The Journey from Local Artisan to National Brand

The Praveen Kumar Authentic Indian Meals range launched in 2019 and was quickly established at a local level selling through 200+ farmshops, delis and garden centres, convenience stores and via its Food Service arm to hospitality venues, pubs, and smaller restaurants.

With over 10 years in business up to that point, Praveen and Swarna had established themselves as well respected members of the local food and drink community, and Praveen’s profile had solid regional recognition through his regular spot on ITV’s Live at Five and via cooking demos at events such as Perth Farmers’ Market, The Scottish Game Fair, Perthshire on a Plate and Dundee Food and Flower Festival.

This network of local connections, friends, family and customers became exhausted relatively quickly and with the additional frustrations of lockdown, 2020 was a challenging year. However, it also provided space to plan a clear pathway from local artisans to national brand and, in December 2020, Swarna Spice Ltd launched its online direct-to-consumer platform, and the Curry Club subscription model.

“By the end of 2020 we had raised £85K in our first round of funding, had Mark Scott’s investment of £50K, and had made the move into the Food & Drink Park. Selling direct-toconsumers was the crucial next step on the journey to expansion.

“Not only did the sales platform allow us to retain 100% of retail profits, but it also opened the market to the whole of the UK, exposing us to millions of potential customers. At the same time, we launched the Praveen Kumar Curry Club, which followed a subscriptionstyle model, whereby people signed up to a monthly box of seasonal flavours and different authentic recipes.”

Twelve months later, going into January 2022, production was at 3000 meals a week, with Curry Club responsible for 70% of turnover. The meals were selling in over 80 retail outlets including a small range in selected Spar Stores.

“We knew going into 2022 that we had a big year ahead of us. The Board had set investment, funding and people as the key priorities and once again Swarna and I found our day-to-day roles shifting to ensure the focus was constantly on the steps we needed to be making. single pitch has been a useful exercise, whether seeding ideas for future investment rounds or simply gleaning a new perspective from experienced people who are working at the top of UK industry.

“You must remain open-minded and be ready to take on board the feedback on offer – both good and bad.

“For example, we’re currently making significant changes to our packaging as a result of feedback from both investors and small supermarket chains; the new look is more polished, more authentic and readyfor-market in terms of what the larger supermarket players are looking for.”

“Between the back end of 2021, and over 2022, we made 20-plus pitches to investors across the UK. Of course, not all of them came on board, but I would say that every

As part of this exercise, Swarna Spice applied for, and won, £75K of funding from the Scottish EDGE Awards, impressing the judges with its ambitious strategy for growth. This has allowed Praveen to join the prestigious Scale Up Scotland group, Sir Tom Hunter’s mentoring programme for Scotland’s most promising entrepreneurs.

Importantly, Swana Spice has made the step up from regional brand, with Curry Club members reaching from Isle of Skye to Isle of Wight.

“86% of our customer base is now in England with 51% of those people living in London and Surrey. In Scotland, Edinburgh has overtaken Perthshire as our largest base. These are busy professionals, with little time to cook but a demand for quality, ready-prepared meals. Our aim was to beat local takeaways and restaurants, to offer a product that could be ready when the customer wants it, and feedback shows we’ve achieved exactly this.”

Over 2023, the business is targeted to reach £1.5 million turnover and will add two new Field Sales Executives to its team. It has recently signed with Green’s Retail, an independent chain that has plans to open an additional 30 stores this year, as well as Fife Creamery, Scotland’s largest frozen and chilled distributor selling to 270 stores every week. In addition to this, Swarna Spice Ltd are currently in conversations with a UK garden centre chain, Spar Scotland, and CJ Lang & Son Ltd.